Non-Fiction
Read it
I find learning about culture exhilerating, especially those that seem super exotic from my own. I've been meaning to read this for quite some time. I knew the title wouldn't exactly be similar to what's in the book, but a book about Book of the Dead is pretty interesting to contemplate. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't what it was. That being said, it was a fascinating and well worth the time read.
When I first started it, the initial chapter/introduction are intimidating. Like Advanced Level college intimidating. I wasn't sure I would be able to get through it. I decided to stick it out and I'm glad I did. The book walks through a ritual that Tibetans follow upon and after death. What cultures think happens after death is usually interesting, this was no exception. It was compiled with the help of Tibetans for translation.
Tibetan Buddhism is a pretty esoteric religion. I've been through the college level intro into what is Buddhism, but like anything else, the more you dig the more you find. The author and translator have helpfully added many many footnotes that I relied upon to help my understanding. The idea of "Bardo" or the plane one finds oneself after death was especially interesting to contemplate, as were the different things that can happen according to Buddhism and how strong the person's belief was.
I'll definitely say this was not something everyone might enjoy reading. But if you would like to Geek out and understand what Tibetan Buddhists think of what happens after death, this will definitely be a good one for you.
Read it.
~Becky~
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